Minnesota's top law office is undergoing a major shake-up, as at least 25 employees have left the attorney general's office since January, including the departure of two top deputies this month.

Those employees have departed since Attorney General Lori Swanson took office in January. This month, Kristine Eiden, former chief deputy attorney general, and Mike Vanselow, former deputy attorney general, left for what they have described as personal reasons.

But one assistant attorney general said she was fired last week shortly after helping the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 5 pass out membership cards to unionize the office's stable of some 170 attorneys. She and her attorney have threatened to sue the attorney general's office for unfair labor practices, she said.

"I've never seen morale lower," said one employee who asked not to be named. "The place feels like a morgue."

The stream of departures from the AG's office escaped much media attention until Thursday, when Swanson fielded questions at an unrelated Capitol news conference. Swanson played down the exodus as part of a normal administration transition. Her office doesn't pay that well and has limited management positions to offer, she said.

She confirmed there had been "a couple of terminations" among the dismissals.

"It's kind of a healthy part of the office that people come and go," Swanson told reporters.

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Swanson said AFSCME contacted her office about organizing her attorneys. She said she told union leaders it was up to employees and that she had no real say in the matter.

Swanson's office confirmed 25 departures and provided a list. Swanson spokesman Brian Bergson noted that when former Attorney General Mike Hatch took office in 1999, about 75 people left in the transition. Hatch remains in the office he used to run, this time as an assistant attorney general heading up the complex litigation unit.

The office has 367 employees, 170 of them assistant attorneys general. Eiden and Vanselow did not return phone calls Thursday. The attorney general's office supplies some 100 state agencies with legal advice as well as handling consumer complaints.

Swanson said Vanselow, the former deputy, left for a higher-paying job at Fridley-based Medtronic Inc. to help his children who were in graduate school and medical school. Eiden, the former chief deputy, needed a change after many years with the attorney general's office, Swanson said.

In an interview, Kari Jo Ferguson, a 36-year-old former assistant attorney general assigned to represent the Pollution Control Agency, described how she was fired April 17.

Ferguson said she was called to the Capitol and told by Solicitor General Alan Gilbert and another attorney that her services were no longer needed. She was asked for her key and pass card. Ferguson said that when she asked if she was being fired for some performance reason, Gilbert told her "it was office policy not to give a reason why." He then escorted her to the door and apologized, she said.

She was somewhat shocked, Ferguson said, because less than a month earlier Swanson had given her a raise and a letter of commendation. A few days before her meeting with Gilbert, she had been making arguments in a state appeals court, she said.

Ferguson said it seems clear she was fired because of her union-organizing activities in the prior weeks.

"It doesn't take a brain surgeon to put two and two together," said Ferguson's attorney, Gregg Corwin, who also represents AFSCME.

Ferguson and Corwin said they have threatened to file a lawsuit against the AG's office for unfair labor practices but have not yet done so.

The attorney general's office said state privacy laws prevent discussing Ferguson's case unless she waives her rights in writing. Gilbert called her accusations "ridiculous."

"We did not fire her for union activities," Gilbert said.

Swanson told reporters state law prohibits assistant attorneys general from joining unions. An AFSCME spokeswoman disagreed. Jennifer Lovaasen said that in response to a request from the union in January, Corwin wrote, "nothing in the Public Employment Labor Relations Act prohibits a constitutional officer, such as the attorney general, from meeting and conferring on the conditions and terms of employment with an employee organization representing professional employees, including attorneys employed by the office of attorney general."

"The bottom line," Lovaasen said, "is we can represent attorneys in the attorney general's office."

Speculation and concern in recent weeks about the escalator out of the attorney general's office led Mark Cohen, editor in chief of the weekly Minnesota Lawyer, to comment on the matter in a blog Saturday. More than 40 commenters rapidly piled on before Cohen ended the string Thursday morning, saying it was becoming unproductive.

Among the comments were several laudatory posts praising Swanson and signed by staff members. One former employee accused Hatch of pressuring staff to post positive comments on the blog, in one case even writing a comment for the staffer.

Hatch denied doing so. "I haven't written any blogs," he said. "In fact, I don't even have an e-mail address."

Past and current employees told the Pioneer Press the stream of resigning assistant attorneys general reflects how demoralized Swanson's staff has become.

"People are being micromanaged and fired for any reason at the drop of a hat," a former staff member who left in recent months said.

A current staffer said some of the office's best lawyers have been driven out or fired, "and they are having a hard time hiring people other than kids straight out of law school."

Others said they were shocked at the departures of Eiden, a longtime Hatch loyalist, and Vanselow, a highly regarded lawyer.

"They stuck around after the election because they thought it would be easier to work under Lori than under Hatch," said an insider familiar with both supervisors. "But they never imagined that Lori would hire Mike to come back. That just came out of the blue."

Jennifer Bjorhus can be reached at jbjorhus@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2146. Bill Salisbury can be reached at 651-228-5538 or bsalisbury@pioneerpress.com. Rubén Rosario can be reached at rrosario@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5454.